Shaping Gender Equality Every Day: The Role of Contexts for Policy Actors

The pursuit of gender equality in education involves diverse actors operating within institutional contexts that reflect and influence underlying cultural frameworks. This study examines how domestic policy actors with varied institutional affiliations navigate these contexts and advance gender-equality goals. Drawing on 12 in-depth interviews with policy reform actors (government officials and consultants) and civil society actors (nongovernmental organization representatives) in Karachi and Lahore, the findings suggest that domestic actors—mostly urban, educated men—engage in strategic ceremonial compliance, balancing global expectations with local realities and institutional demands. They navigate multiple interpretations of gender equality as they prioritize gender parity to signal professional legitimacy. The study underscores the need to attend to domestic meaning-making practices within institutional contexts in both gender policy and comparative education research.